<p>Monday night’s Taylor is indie rocker Taylor Phelan. Tonight’s Taylor (Tuesday 10/28) was Taylor John Williams. Taylor John Williams had the perfect song choice for his voice (Mad World) and he really performed it well. My favorite of the night.</p>
<p>I wish Troy had made better song choice(s). The beginning sounded too much like he was playing at the coffee house and the back end wasn’t melodic enough for me. I also thought the audience participation part was really corny. I wish he was still around, at least a few more weeks. </p>
<p>I am always uncomfortable watching Elijuh Rene perform. More Broadway than pop. Maybe Pharrell likes the fact the kid can sing and figures he can fix the other missing components. Personally, I think Ricky will be a big vote-getter for Gwen and Elijuh will get eliminated fairly quickly.</p>
<p>I might have mentioned this in the past, but does anyone else think Blake lies? When he’s asked who did a better job, I think he often chooses the “lesser” singer, hoping his fellow judges fall for it. I really think that is one of his tactics to win. Cee Lo always used to fall for it, but this year’s judges seem smarter. </p>
<p>I watched a few streams, and I think this is a forgettable group. No real frontrunner to like or … dislike. No true screamers, no silly knee-bending untalented singers, no sweet demeanors, etc. </p>
<p>The new judges are likeable and that balances the resident “little annoying kid” who has a monstruously inflated opinion of himself and his mentoring ability. I really do not understand why some many contestants have flocked to him in the past. I wonder if they really have watched how many of the good contestants Adam has thrown under the bus to satisfy his penchant for “taking risks.” </p>
<p>Fwiw, I do not think Blake is lying as he has been a very honest judge with very clear 'tactics" of picking a few horses he thinks he can ride to the top by relying on his stable of voters. Adam is a weasel and a buffoon. Christina did not care. And Shakira and CeeLo could not buy a clue how to “play” this game. Although the show will keep Adam until it ends up like X-Factor, the creators should really consider replacing Adam with a different returning judge. </p>
<p>Actually, there is a huge difference. X-Factor had really good judges at the beginning and then started adding really crass and classless ones to hasten the demise of the show. Imagine P. Rubio on The Voice, and you count on it being the last season! </p>
<p>I like all this year’s judges and that includes Adam. </p>
<p>Adam provides emotion and energy to the show. Otherwise the show would be duller. </p>
<p>I dont understand why the judges pair off their best singers early. If I was a judge, I would pair off 1 vs 8. 2 vs 7. Don’t any of these judges watch sports? </p>
<p>Blake said he hates when the knockouts or whatever you call it are close . Then don 't pair your best singers and make sure if you as a judge is choosing the song, the song fits the better singer.</p>
<p>I still like the 15 year old singer that was bounced. It is possible I dont hear that well … Very possible.</p>
<p>I agree with that. The 15 year old (Trinidad?) I thought was very good. </p>
<p>I thought Danica sang very well, and was probably as good as Tessanne who won last time ( I think). I liked her response to Adam, I think, who said he was wondering if she had more in her repertoire. She said something that translated into “I’m confidant, I’ve worked hard and for a long time, and I’ve got more to come than you might think.” said very politely, but not in those exact words.</p>
<p>What i don’t like about the show is when a judge like Pharell says to a 15 year old, I have been looking for somebody like you my whole life and then he picks another singer in the knockout stage.</p>
<p>How long has he been looking for a singer that he chose over the 15 year old? His whole life and his parents’ whole lives?</p>
<p>Glad you’re watching xiggi! I agree with your opening paragraph. Disagree with you about Adam. Think the show would take a hit with him gone.</p>
<p>dstark and dadx, I was also surprised to see Katriz Trinidad not picked by her coach (Pharrell), especially when he said to her in the blinds that he had been looking for someone exactly like HER to fill a void in his production efforts. </p>
<p>dstark, I would also pair strongest against weakest, with the song choice being in my faves wheelhouse, as long as I didn’t end up with too many in the same genre. I suppose picking a song that you think is better suited to one could backfire (remember Blessing?), especially if the song was recorded by an artist that would be considered “off limits” and/or you sing it too closely to the original.</p>
<p>dadx, DaNica reminds me of Tessanne Chin also! Except, I like DaNica better so far…</p>
<p>To me, Not picking Katriz is the biggest surprise of the show so far. It angers me. :)</p>
<p>My opinion is if you really want to win the Voice, you have to make sure your top singers are seen in the best light possible. If it doesn’t work out, at least you gave it your best shot. Blake does that. Blake did that with Danielle. Blake did not have Danielle sing Stevie Wonder songs.</p>
<p>That kid that Pharell chose with the braces is not going to win and Katriz is a better singer to my ears.</p>
<p>Jshain, I am relying on you to fill in the blanks for me and tell me when my ear is bad. :)</p>
<p>I don 't remember Blessing.
Pharell stole Ms Jones. Is she very good? I missed her last performance. </p>
<p>I think these judges know who they want to steal. The producers probably know too.</p>
<p>I don’t think Blake lies, I think he’s just looking for someone different. Maybe not the person who sings the loudest or perfectly, but someone who has a distinctive voice and doesn’t sound like the rest. Then again, I haven’t seen the other seasons. I like Adam, I think he’s funny, real, and much nicer than I thought he’d be. But I haven’t seen him in the other seasons, so maybe he will irritate me later on.</p>
<p>I also don’t know why they all have their best singers competing against each other, making them choose. They should be pretty certain that some people won’t win, so why not pair them up with the ones they’d like to keep? I thought Ms Trinidad was awesome, but I think Danika is Pharrell’s finalist, so he isn’t going to let her go. Don’t care for Sugar Jones that much, was surprised that Pharrell blew his save right away on her. Seems you should only use the save for someone that stands a shot at winning. Then again, you never know who might improve. I really like Mia.</p>
<p>The kid with the braces, no way. Can’t believe that Pharrell chose him against the competition. He has no shot. Sounds great when you aren’t looking at him, but when you are, he is grinning ear to ear and I’m not sure why watching him irritates me. A little too dramatic, maybe.</p>
<p>My guesses on three of the finalists. Danika, James, Matt. Not sure about Gwen’s finalist, maybe Taylor?</p>
<p>It’s interesting to me to see that most believe the star judges make all the decisions. I think a lot more of this is phoned in than we think and that production assistants make a lot of the decisions based on many things other than talent. I always wonder who the real coaches are who work with the singers. I’m sure they are sworn to secrecy, but these novices are not putting these song productions together without significant help. </p>
<p>I think you’re right about all of that, cartera. There is so much going on behind the scenes. I do think the coaches get to choose who they want to keep, though, they are all extremely competitive and want to win. For people they don’t feel so strongly about, I can see how they could let themselves be influenced. However, I think we are just watching a couple of snippets and one performance, and making judgments about singers based upon that. The coaches have seen far more, and already probably have a good idea of whom they are going to choose, no matter how they perform (unless it’s awful)… But yeah, agree with you about much being managed. Jessie’s dad told me that watching how the show was done was very interesting. We think the judges are spontaneously bursting into speech whenever they feel like it, but it is directed whose turn it is, now stop talking, now decide. Much more scripted than it appears.</p>
<p>I’m sure there is additional “help” and coaching beyond the bit we see from the coaches on camera. But, despite the nature of the show, I don’t think its accurate to call them novices…at least not quite. The fact of the matter is that some of them are closer to “semi-professionals”, if there is such a term in the entertainment business. The cowboy that Blake has has done a lot of singing, and so have more than a couple of the others.</p>
<p>Which one is the other really young girl with dark hair? I was getting her mixed up a little with Trinidad because they both seemed to have that Danielle effortless quality with their talent. </p>
<p>The black kid with the braces suffers a bit from an Urkel similarity, and they should probably dress him in a way that minimizes that association. I do think he is very talented, but Pharrell fooled me with the way he voiced his choice. Very sneaky.</p>
said very politely, but not in those exact words.</p>